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Operation XOXO
Elle James
Tall, blond and incredibly handsome, Paul remained hard to ignore.
“I have a proposition for you,” he said.
Her gaze narrowed on Paul. “What do you mean a proposition?”
“I could stay with you at night until we catch him.”
Elise’s heart fluttered and her hands grew cold and clammy. She hadn’t lived in the same house with a man since she’d left North Dakota. Heck, she hadn’t trusted herself with another man since.
The last time she’d been with Paul, he’d played with her children in the evacuation shelter. She’d been drawn to the sexy federal agent more than she wanted to admit. But that didn’t matter. She couldn’t get involved with anyone, not now or ever.
Elle James
Operation XOXO
This book is dedicated to Texas.
I loved all 20 lovely years I lived there. It’s rugged,
it’s beautiful and it’s full of wonderful cowboys and
heroes just right for Intrigue. God Bless Texas!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Golden Heart winner for Best Paranormal Romance in 2004, Elle James started writing when her sister issued a Y2K challenge to write a romance novel. She has managed a full-time job, raised three wonderful children and she and her husband even tried their hands at ranching exotic birds (ostriches, emus and rheas) in the Texas Hill Country. Ask her and she’ll tell you what it’s like to go toe-to-toe with an angry 350-pound bird! After leaving her successful career in Information Technology Management, Elle is now pursuing her writing full-time. She loves building exciting stories about heroes, heroines, romance and passion. Elle loves to hear from fans. You can contact her at ellejames@earthlink.net or visit her Web site at www.ellejames.com.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Paul Fletcher—The FBI special agent never met a woman he wanted to protect more than the brave and vulnerable ex-wife of a serial killer.
Elise Johnson—he moved to Texas and changed her name to give herself and her sons a chance to start over without the stigma of being the wife and children of the Dakota Strangler.
Luke & Brandon Johnson—Elise Johnson’s sons are also the sons of a serial killer.
Stan Klaus—The Dakota Strangler supposedly died in a fire and flood two years ago. His body was never found.
Melissa Bradley—The FBI special agent was also involved in the Dakota Strangler case.
Gerri Finch—This cheerleader’s mom is out to get Elise fired for interfering with her daughter’s cheer competition.
Colton West—The police officer assigned to high-school campus duty has access to Elise, and he knew Lauren and Mary. But is he a killer?
George Slater—Luke’s mystery friend lives on the other side of the hedge. Some say he’s crazy. Crazy like a killer?
Trevor Cain—This FBI special agent wanted the job Paul Fletcher got. Now he has to report to the man who stole his promotion.
Caesar Valdez—An angry teenage bully, he’s bent on stirring up trouble in Elise’s high-school classroom.
Alex Mendoza—Elise’s star student and class brainiac sticks up for Elise when the class bully gets rough.
Kendall Laughlin—A teenager in a family of cops, she wants to be an FBI agent when she grows up.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter One
“Caesar Valdez, please return to your seat.” Elise Johnson struggled to look calm and keep her voice even. She pushed a hand through her damp hair and sighed. Why was the air conditioner on the fritz again? How could she teach in such stifling heat?
Caesar glared at her and slumped into his assigned seat, grumbling, “I don’t know why we have to study history, anyway. It’s lame. Only losers care about history.”
Elise couldn’t blame the students for being fractious. The temperature in the room had to be nearing the mideighties. Outside the South Texas summer had stretched well into the one hundreds and it was October, for heaven’s sake!
A transplant from North Dakota, Elise suffered in anything above seventy degrees Fahrenheit. She sighed. If she could just make it another few minutes, the day would be done and they could all go home. “Can anyone tell Caesar why we study world history?”
Ashley Finch flicked her straight strawberry-blond hair over her shoulder and looked down her perfect nose at Elise. “Because teachers like to torture teenagers?”
The students laughed.
Elise nodded, already used to the young people posturing in front of their peers. A cheerleader, Ashley liked to be the center of attention and had no trouble speaking up in class; it got her in trouble often. She never knew when to shut up. After several conferences with Ashley’s mother, Elise understood where the girl got her mouth and attitude.
“Thank you, Ashley.” She stared around at the sea of bored faces, each watching the clock on the wall, waiting for the bell to ring and school to end for the day. “Anyone else know of another reason why we might want to study history?”
Alex Mendoza glanced from left to right and inched his hand upward.
As one, the entire class moaned.
Alex was the brainiac of the class. He’d already blown the class curve, earning him the disdain of his less fortunate and less studious classmates.
Elise liked him because he was voracious in his desire to learn and his ability to retain what he’d digested. “Yes, Alex?”
“We study history so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of our past. If we don’t learn from the past, we are destined to do it all over again.” His words started out slow, tentative, and sped up as if he were afraid the class would pummel him with spit wads for being so verbose. “Who wants another Hitler or Hussein?”
Before the class could bombard him with a barrage of answers to his question, the bell rang.
Students grabbed their books and backpacks and scrambled for the door.
Elise straightened her desk and gathered the quiz papers from a previous class. She liked to be home when the boys got off the bus. As a teacher, she had the latitude to be with her young sons when they got out of school. As a single parent, she liked to maintain a certain amount of stability in their lives. They’d been through so much.
Alex Mendoza and Kendall Laughlin were the last to leave, as usual. The two were best friends and partners on the school newspaper. They went everywhere together—joined at the hip, as Elise’s mother would have said before she passed away last year.
Kendall stopped in front of Elise’s desk. “Ms. Johnson, remember if you need me to babysit, all you have to do is let me know. I’m available practically anytime, and you’re just down the street, so I could ride my bike.”
Elise chewed her bottom lip. She hadn’t been out with adults since she’d come to Breuer, Texas, the small traditionally German town on the outskirts of San Antonio. “Thanks, Kendall, I’ll keep you in mind.”
For when she actually met some adults she could hang out with after teaching school all day.
“Alex, don’t let Caesar’s comments get you down. You two will go far because you aren’t afraid or too lazy to learn.”
Alex shrugged. “I wasn’t worried. While I’m at Stanford earning my doctorate, Caesar will still be bagging groceries.”
“Come on, Alex,” Kendall said. “My mom’s waiting to take us to the library so we can dig up more scoop on Jack the Ripper.”
A chill slithered its way down Elise’s spine. “Why are you doing a report on Jack the Ripper?”
“We had to pick someone famous in history, and who wants to do the same ol’ same ol’?” Kendall grinned.
Alex rolled his eyes. “It was her idea. I wanted Albert Einstein.”
Kendall’s eyes glowed with enthusiasm. “There’s something about an unsolved mystery that appeals to me.” She jerked her head toward the door. “Are we going or not? My mom’s probably waiting in the parking lot.”
Alex smiled and scooted out the door after Kendall.
After the kids had cleared the room Elise hurried down the hallway, her footsteps clicking along the tiled floors. She had to stop at the office where she’d drop off parent permission forms for their field trip to Enchanted Rock at the end of next week.
Elise tried to shake the uneasy feeling creeping across her skin. All Alex and Kendall’s talk of Jack the Ripper brought up memories best forgotten.
Students and teachers milled in and out of the office. Elise had to squeeze through to get to the front desk.
“Hi, Elise.” Becky McNabb, the school secretary, looked up from her computer terminal at her desk. “How was class?”
“Challenging,” she answered, her tone flat, her lips twisting into a wry grin.
“I don’t know how you teachers do it.” She glanced back at the computer. “I’d have to shoot myself.”
“They have their moments.” Both good and bad. Elise handed Becky the stack of crumpled papers. “Could you file these?”
“Sure.” She stuck a paper clip on them and laid them on the stack in her in-box. “Hey, don’t forget to check your cubby before you leave. You got mail today.”
Behind the counter a plain white envelope leaned to the side of her box. She retrieved it and stuffed it in her purse for later.
The small town was just what she and her boys had needed. Not much traffic and plenty of room to grow. Most of all, it was a long way from North Dakota. A long way from the past she’d tried her damnedest to erase. She’d changed her name and her sons’ to ensure no one could trace them or know their real identities. The only people who knew where they’d gone were her sister, Brenna, and Brenna’s FBI husband, Nick Tarver—the only people she trusted with her children’s lives.
For the past four months, she and her sons had lived in the small Texas town with no one aware of what had happened in North Dakota.
A long funeral procession wended its way down Main Street, bringing traffic to a complete standstill. Elise glanced at the clock on the dash. She had a good fifteen minutes before Luke and Brandon got off the bus and she was only five minutes from home once the procession made it past. After shifting her metallic gray sedan into Park, she reached into her purse for the envelope, slipped her fingernail beneath the flap and ripped it open. The sharp edge of the flap sliced into her skin and she jerked her hand back.
Damn. She hated paper cuts. She dabbed at the dot of blood oozing from her finger and opened the envelope. Inside she found a single white sheet of paper.
Careful not to bleed on the writing, she unfolded the paper and flattened it. The message was short and it didn’t take Elise long to read the three simple lines.
Dear Alice,
For better or worse, until death do us part.
Let death begin.
Cold consumed her, penetrating straight to her bones.
No. This was a mistake. No one knew her here. No one.
She grabbed the envelope. On the outside written in crisp clean computer print was Elise Johnson. There was no postage, no return address.
Her hands shook so hard, the paper and envelope fluttered from her grip and fell to the seat beside her.
Brenna. I have to call Brenna. She hesitated for a few seconds. Should she? Married now, Brenna was eight months pregnant with her first child. Should Elise call her and upset her?
The words on the note stared up at her, pushing her past any kind of reason. She had to talk to her sister. Brenna would know what to do.
Elise fumbled in her purse for her cell phone and hit the speed-dial button that would connect her with her sister living in Minneapolis.
After four rings, Elise’s teeth were chattering and she almost threw the phone out the window. “Where is she?”
